Five members of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces PMF were killed in ISIS militants ambush in Diyalah, early Tuesday, a PMF commander said.
"A patrol of Hashid Al-Sha'bi was planning to set up an ambush to target Daesh militants who ambushed them before hand, five of them martyred," a commander of brigade 1 of PMF anonymously told KirkukNow.
Head of PMF Brigade 1 operations, Muntadhir al-Dujaili, intelligence department officer, and three members were killed in Naftkhana, near Khanaqin, northeast of Diyala province middle of Iraq.
The PMF is a Shia-dominated umbrella organisation formed in 2014, and comprises dozens of predominantly Shia militias such as Badr organization, Asaeb Ahl Al Haq and kataeb Hezbollah, working alongside state security forces to stop IS regaining ground in the region.
"Fierce clashes erupted as back up troops confronted Daesh militants for one hour," the source told KirkukNow on condition of anonymity.
"Fierce clashes erupted as back up troops confronted Daesh militants for one hour," the source told KirkukNow on condition of anonymity.
A statement by PMF confirmed the event Tuesday. Weapons, bomb and rocket-making material were captured in an ISIS bunker in a sweep-up campaign launched in the area in the last few days, the statement added.
"We have also mortared the area last week after that we have monitored Deash activities," the source added.
Khanaqin is one of the disputed territories that a three-stage process outlined in Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution in 2005, stipulating normalization, a population census and a referendum on the status of the territories, was drawn to put an end to Kurdistan region government KRG and the Iraqi Federal government dispute over these areas.
Iraqi police was in charge of Khanaqin security till Iraq troops regained control in 2017, following alleged defeat of IS militants.
